Monthly Archives: April 2005

Benedict maledict

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Punjabi Boy has quite a find about the new Pope’s views on Hindus and Buddhists:

Hinduism, he said, offers ‘false hope’; it guarantees ‘purification’ based on a ‘morally cruel’ concept of reincarnation resembling ‘a continuous circle of hell’…

In 1997 Ratzinger annoyed Buddhists by calling their religion an ‘autoerotic spirituality’ that offers ‘transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations’… The Cardinal predicted Buddhism would replace Marxism as the Catholic Church’s main enemy this century.

Ratzinger had even more choice words for those who are not Catholic:

… Dominus Jesus, the major Vatican document released… by Cardinal Ratzinger… called other world religions “gravely deficient,” denied that other religions can offer salvation independent of Christianity, and said non-Catholic Christian churches have “defects” and are not “churches” at all in the proper sense.

‘Enforcer,’ in the hockey sense, sounds about right.

Update: Ratzinger was apparently more sparing with Judaism (thanks, MD):

… Ratzinger played an instrumental role in the Vatican’s revolutionary reconciliation with the Jews under John Paul II. He personally prepared… [the] document outlining the church’s historical “errors” in its treatment of Jews…

Previous posts: 1, 2

High-funda food

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As if desis could get any more passionate about their comida, food diversity in India is rising with income (thanks, Rohit):

The amount spent nationally on meals outside the home has more than doubled in the past decade, to about $5 billion a year, and is expected to double again in about half that time…

“In the 1970’s and 1980’s our international menu consisted of Russian salad, shrimp cocktail, French fries … oh, and something baked,” Mr. Desai said. “Recently, though, I had a conservative Hindu lady explain to me the specifics of a risotto she wants for her son’s wedding, and a traditional Bohri Muslim family requested Mongolian hot pots…”

“When I first opened Diva people would send back al dente risotto because they were used to very soft cooked basmati rice…”

While I’m complaining about not getting arbi, Bombayites were complaining about not getting Italian:

The legendary Crawford Market in Mumbai… sells broccoli, iceberg lettuce, thyme, basil, rosemary, bell peppers and other non-Indian vegetables. Pasta in bulk is available alongside basmati rice.

It’s all causing drama with the saas:

“Much to my mother’s chagrin I use store-bought yogurt,” said Rujuta Jog, 24, a recently married office worker. “And my mother-in-law was upset when she saw that I use Pillsbury flour to make rotis. She still prefers to buy wheat and grind it fresh…”

“In the old days, since only the men worked outside the home, they were served first,” said Sathya Saran, a senior executive at Worldwide Media, one of India’s largest publishing companies. “Now everyone eats together, and the entire family dynamic has begun to shift.”

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‘Amazing Race’ runs through India

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Tonight’s episode of reality television show “The Amazing Race” takes its contestants to the streets of Lucknow, India:

Battle lines were drawn as Teams made their way to Lucknow, India. Boyfriends Lynn & Alex led a group against their rivals, engaged couple Rob & Amber, who paired up with former POW and beauty queen Ron & Kelly, in an uneasy alliance. Catching an earlier flight to India, Rob & Amber never relinquished their lead as they battled for first place. Winning the hard-fought match, Rob & Amber stepped on the mat and received a shock when Phil told them that he had their next clue. The leg was not over. [CBS]

The web preview hosts video vignettes, a location briefing, and a call for your own Lucknow stories. “The Amazing Race” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBS.

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Kahlo, meet Kahlon

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A Manhattan gallery honors artist Rajkamal Kahlon this Friday with a reception opening her latest exhibit, ‘Unbound.’ Kahlon’s work, which I first saw at ‘Fatal Love,’ reminds me of the tortured visions of Frida Kahlo and Tarsem Singh, director of The Cell. (I said Kahlo, not J.Lo.)

Kahlon literally paints over history:

Kahlon’s new series of paintings respond to a nineteenth century tome entitled Cassell’s Illustrated History of India. After finding this book in 2003 on auction at Sotheby’s, Kahlon borrowed $400… with the intention of unbinding [it]… painting over texts and manipulating the illustrations set in front of her… she creates a charged, fragmented narrative about her relationship to India’s history and its colonial past.

You can see more of her work here and here.

‘Unbound‘ opening, Fri Apr. 22, 6-8 pm reception, 8-10pm afterparty with DJ Rekha; PPOW Gallery, 555 W. 25th St., 2nd floor, between 10th/11th Aves., Manhattan

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Always a bridesmaid, never a bride

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When Dias turns into nights… Ratz! Cardinal Ivan Dias, the Mumbai mandarin, is outpolled by the Frankish Pope:

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope today, taking the name Benedict XVI, then telling a wildly cheering crowd from a balcony on St. Peter’s Basilica, “I entrust myself to your prayers.”

Rediff isn’t ready to bury the hatchet just yet:

He is known as ‘the Pope’s enforcer’ due to his uncompromising conservatism… Ratzinger was head of… the church’s chief think-tank that has dominated discussions on sexual morality and birth control and prevented liberals from gaining ground.

Got that? An Indian publication’s chiding the Vatican for being too conservative.

On balance, it’s a good thing that Dias didn’t prevail. The cardinals’ traditional cry of ‘habemus papam,’ or ‘we have a Pope,’ might have been changed to ‘habemus papad,’ or ‘we have a crispy pre-meal appetizer.’

Here’s Ennis’ post on the blasphemous betting.

Trees married in Calcutta

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Residents in Calcutta, India have married together a pair of trees in hopes of warding off evil:

The marriage between the sacred trees — whose trunks were decorated with red cloth, streaks of vermilion and marigold garlands — was followed by a banquet attended by nearly 1,000 people. [Reuters/Yahoo!]

Proving once and for all that it doesn’t really matter who, or even what, is getting married — an Indian wedding will always be way too big.

Reuters/Yahoo!: Indians ‘marry’ sacred trees to ward off evil eye

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Illinois likes politicians with weird names

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Illinois voters have gone and done something crazy once again. First they elected Ba-rack O-bam-a as a U.S. Senator, and now conservative DuPage County has gone and elected Moin Moon Khan and Esin Busche as township trustees. The Chicago Tribune (free registration required) reports:

No one would mistake a gathering of DuPage County Republicans for the United Nations, but the party took a significant step last week toward shaking its image as a party dominated by “old white-haired men” when Moin Moon Khan and Esin Busche were elected township trustees.

Party officials say as far as they can tell, Khan, an Indian-born longtime Chicago-area activist who works as a computer network administrator, and Busche, a Turkish-born chemist, are the first Muslim Republicans elected to public office anywhere in the state–and a symbol of the party’s new outreach effort in a rapidly diversifying county.

“This is a small office, and for me it may be a very small individual achievement,” said Khan. “However, I think it’s a giant milestone for the minority communities in general and the Muslim American community in particular.”

What’s even more astonishing is that Khan beat out someone named “Bob Wagner.” I found the following quote by Rasheed Ahmed, coordinator of the Illinois Muslim Political Coordinating Council, quite interesting:

Muslims don’t tend to naturally gravitate to either party, Ahmed said, because there are parts of both the Democratic and Republican positions that appeal to them.

There was also this little gem by Paul Hinds, chairman of the York Township Republican Party.

“We get pegged too much as 70-year-old white-haired men. That’s a stereotype we always have to work against,” he said. “That’s not what we are.”

Moon’s personal story is quite inspiring as related at NRI-Worldwide:

Khan, who came to the US in 1986 with, plans to become a journalist, switched to computers after getting a journalism degree from the University of Georgia, because being a scribe “was not financially lucrative”.

But politics was in his veins, he said, and when he moved to Illinois, he founded the Bihar Cultural Association and served on the boards of more than a dozen civic organisations in the past 15 years.

“Being a scribe was not financially lucrative?” Yeah, no sh*t. Continue reading →

White American Christians Emulate Arranged Marriages

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Abhi’s post about the Prom got me thinking about the non-trivial number of Christians I’ve met over the years who follow desi-like restrictive dating rituals. One friend of mine went no further than holding hands with his intended until they got engaged! Two seconds (literally) on Google yielded a (white American) group that proposes something very similar to “modern arranged marriages”

Let’s be honest for a minute, when we were looking for a spouse, we looked at all the wrong things. All the guys look for is how the girl looks. All the girl looks at is whether or not the guy is nice to her. Single people have a very poor track record in looking for the important characteristics of the heart when they are looking for a mate. On the other hand, there is nobody who knows children like their parents do (except God). So, parents will know the character traits of their children; their strong and weak areas, their likes and dislikes, and their personality. As such, the parents are in a position to make a more accurate evaluation of the compatibility of a particular man, or women with their own kids. Please note, I’m not talking about the parents choosing a mate without the child’s participation in the decision. What I’m saying is that the best possible decision will be made when the parents and child work together … If either they, or us as parents see a possibility in someone, we will mention it. Then, we will investigate that person, to find out everything we can about them and their family. If they still look like a possible candidate for marriage after this investigation, we will go together to talk with that possible mate and his or her parents. [cite]

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